Auto Helm

[Steve burt48]

Ok guys here is a quiz for you, Raymarine 3G course computer, st6001 control head, tridata, speed,depth.
Can be sailing and auto helm shuts down, shows "sea talk fail"  taken out course computer and sent it to Raymarine in Sydney Australia along with control head, was sent back stating they could not find any fault on test bench over a week. Sent it back, reinstalled into my boat, turned on instant "seatalk fail"  replaced leads and again "seatalk fail"  replaced control head "seatalk fail"  sent control head and course computer once again back to Raymarine in Sydney, once again returned stating working perfectly and performing as it should? Once again reinstalled into boat, turned on and guess what "seatalk fail" replace flux gate compass no difference, "seatalk fail", so there Mr. Phelps is your mission, anybody with any ideas? Would be greatly appreciated this boat is becoming one big 50ft pain in the butt

[MarkTheBike]

Although ST4000+, I had all sorts of similar weird problems, eventually traced to low quality / poorly installed wiring (i.e. plain 13amp household flex). Copper wire had corroded badly so it may be worth just checking through. I replaced with tinned core and been good ever since. Also, ensure that autohelm has its own supply.

[Yngmar]

Exactly what Mark said - replace the one thing you haven't replaced yet (and should've first) - the wiring. Seatalk1 wires are not tinned, just stranded copper, which when exposed to saltwater can corrode for several meters into the cover due to capillary action, causing high resistance and intermittent to permanent failure of the connectors. The connectors themselves can corrode as well - only the male ones on the instruments are gold plated, the ones in the female plugs are not. Additionally, the 3mm spade connectors inside the plastic cast Seatalk1 plugs can be bent open if pulled at an angle - you can bend them shut by pinching them hard in a needle-nose pliers through the plastic, one by one.

The error message is accurate - it means no data on SeaTalk between the cockpit instrument and the course computer, it has nothing to do with the fluxgate compass or anything else.

[Salty]

I agree with both Mark and Yngmar regarding the wiring. Bavaria themselves used to wire the boats during construction with ordinary copper wire, and the corrosion along the outside of the copper after a few years can extend an awful long way. On my B36, the wires for directional control of the windlass from the controller located inside the chain locker, through to the solenoid located behind the main electric control panel next to the chart desk, was found to be corroded throughout its entire length. The full length of the cable was taken out and replaced with tinned copper wire cabling, and the removed wire was checked where it was found to have corrosion throughout its full length. Elsewhere I had a light on the mast that did not work, and on checking it was found that while the bulb and the light fitting were good, and where twelve volts were present at the light fitting, the external corrosion on the ordinary copper wire supply cabling was sufficient to prevent enough amps getting through to light the bulb. This cabling was also changed for tinned copper wire, and the problem was solved.